Boldrini, Lucia. 2002. Let Dante Be Silent: Finnegans Wake and the Medieval Theory of Polysemy. In: Lucia Boldrini, ed. Medieval Joyce. (13) Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, pp. 199-218. ISBN 9789042014091 [Book Section]

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Abstract or Description

The medieval theory of the four levels of meaning has often been quoted by critics as a relevant model for the study of the multi-layered language of Finnegans Wake. Dante’s versions of the theory in the Convivio and the “Letter to Can Grande della Scala” are particularly important in this context, insofar as Dante was the first modern European poet to claim for his own love poetry the same interpretative method traditionally used for the divine word. In this essay I discuss whether Dante’s theory can be “applied” to the Wake, or whether it is in fact already inscribed within Joyce’s text, made part of its self-referential interpretative system, and with what effects for the theory as well as for the text. I argue that Dante’s medieval exegetical model is transformed in the Wake through precise references that constantly evoke and confound Dante’s terms, thus showing its inadequacy for the modern polysemic work but also, at the same time, acknowledging its fundamental role in the elaboration of such modern radical polysemy.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Published version available online from: http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?BookId=JOYCE+13. Published version to be used for referencing.
Keywords:	James Joyce Dante Modernism Middle Ages
Related items in GRO:	Boldrini, Lucia, ed. 2002. Medieval Joyce. Amsterdam ; New York, NY: Rodopi. ISBN 9789042014091 [Edited Book] Boldrini, Lucia. 2002. Introduction: Middayeveil Joyce. In: Lucia Boldrini, ed. Medieval Joyce. (13) Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, pp. 11-44. ISBN 9789042014091 [Book Section]
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	English and Comparative Literature
Dates:	Date Event 2002 Published
Item ID:	4261
Date Deposited:	12 Nov 2010 08:35
Last Modified:	02 Mar 2023 11:05
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/4261

Available Versions of this Item

• Introduction: Middayeveil Joyce. (deposited 12 Nov 2010 09:01)
  • Let Dante Be Silent: Finnegans Wake and the Medieval Theory of Polysemy. (deposited 12 Nov 2010 08:35) [Currently Displayed]

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